About a year ago, I was on the roller coaster final descent to get my BFA in Animation/Illustration. One of the last classes that was required for my degree was an illustration class taught by a great artist, Barron Storey. During the semester, he had an assignment about illustrating a person about to become famous. While researching, I discovered the enormous publicity a little girl from the East coast was receiving. Her name is Marla Olmstead. I decided to do my assignment about her.

Her talent and sudden fame brought a lot of controversy. They even made a documentary about her ("My kid could paint that"). She started painting at age two and acquired international fame when The New York Times featured her first major exhibition. Marla has made several TV appearances.

Most people wonder if she is really painting her art or does she gets help to achieve her beautiful paintings? It is also important to question ourself that if one of our children would have such talent, would you put your child in the spotlight? What would be life with paparazzis? How would you explain to your other children that it is OK to be in the shadow of their prodigy sibling? I am not sure I would like one of my children to get all the attention while the other one would just try to have a normal life.

If you are curious about Marla or haven't heard about her, here is her website:

www.marlaolmstead.com/.

I am posting the painting (acrylic) I did about Marla. I tried to depict the fact she loves painting but at the same time, she is still a little girl who probably enjoy playing dolls. I chose to have a bird-eye view so it shows a vulnerable Marla.